Persimmon nibblers

Something out there likes to bite the young branches off my baby persimmons. It doesn’t seem to eat them afterward, just cuts them so cleanly that the first time I thought maybe I’d been careless with the lawn mower… Any idea what might do this (I have rabbits and groundhogs) and how to prevent them? My chicken-wire fence is clearly not encompassing enough.

(This persimmon is an Ichi, but they did the same to my Prok. I’ll be trying to root the cutting, but I didn’t have much luck last time.)

I see rabbits do such damage, mostly young ones. They bite and leave it behind.

I agreed that rabbit was the culprit.
You need a wider ring than the one you have right now.

Tony